Loved
by Astalavisbay
Summary: Brainy's first Christmas. Better than it sounds, he finds his place in the Earth he calls 'home'. For 1000GreenSun's Winter Contest. Dedicated to AndalitePrincess whether she reads this or not.


Hey everyone. This Christmas piece is for 1000GreenSun's Winter contest! Hope you'll enjoy this and read the other entries as well (don't forget to review them as well!).

This is dedicated to AndalitePrincess because of her amazing updates for her story: Animorphs Restart and for dedicating a chapter to me (and her other reviewrs. Thanks very much.

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It was Christmas time in one more day; everyone was joining in to the festivities and looking forward to that time of giving, forgiving and receiving.

But crime waits for no hero. Every Christmas from five years ago to now, there would be some evil baddie who wanted to take advantage of the utter obliviousness around him and would try to do something that would disrupt the peace.

So Comet Boy would ask a few Legionnaires to come in with him to save the day, or something cliché like that. (Christmas was also a time for bad puns and clichés)

Brainy would always volunteer for the mission, he didn't feel the need to be part of the holiday cheer because he was Brainiac Five and Coluans don't celebrate, Brainiacs can't.

He didn't think he even deserved to be a part of the merriment earth had to offer. The earth his ancestor had tried to destroy, for even on Colu when they celebrated the past Brainiac and he watched on he wondered, why celebrate this mass destructor? One whom the Coluans predicted he would become.

So he had never had a Christmas, oh he knew the basics of that, a time to give and receive. A time where grudges were forgiven and a temporary peace treaty was drawn out for the day.

A time where family got together and members reconciled. But Brainy had no family and he held no grudge with anyone. (Isn't it funny? Not even villains for he knew that deep inside he was one too, no, not funny at all.)

But this year, he got no call from Comet Boy. He had overheard Saturn Girl yelling on the holographic phone that 'no sprocking way was Brainy going to miss this Christmas and if Comet Boy had any objections he would meet Garth's fist understand?'

And it appeared he understood because Imra put down the phone with a satisfied smile.

Brainy felt shocked that Saturn Girl would use such a language but he also felt…nice? Warm? What was this feeling?

But it had been decided, Brainy's first Christmas was met by cheers all around the core members, Superman was also there and he was pretty shocked that it was the green android's first Christmas. He invited his friends over to the past for Christmas dinner; his ma had been waiting to meet his new friends.

Brainy had to smile; his friends' enthusiasm was catching. What happened during Christmas already? Oh yeah, gifts. Of course he gave and received gifts when he was out patrolling those past Christmases ago. So he went to his lab and began to construct something special.

His self loathing was pushed aside. Who needed it now? That night, Bouncing Boy had them watch some Christmas shows such as A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker (Barbie version) and others.

Brainy found them to be overly clichéd and an illogical happy ending and everything coincidentally fell into place, what with his disbelief in magic. But he didn't voice his opinion and just watched the show.

When the shows ended he woke everyone up, it seemed that all of them were already asleep with the exception of Brainy. They woke up blearily and said goodnight.

The next day was Christmas! Phantom Girl woke up early and woke everyone up. She, the Triplicates and Saturn Girl crept into the boy's rooms and woke them up. Now Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Superman and the three girls (excluding Timber Wolf, he went to make some cookies) went to Brainy's room.

When they reached there they found that he wasn't in his room.

"He must have already woken up, hm." Imra said cheerfully, they went to the kitchen/lounge to see Brainy holding a cup of coffee in his hand and chatting with Timber Wolf.

"Good Morning Brainy! Timber Wolf. Merry Christmas!" Phantom Girl cried out happily.

The two boys returned her greeting; Lightning Lad went over to Brainy.

"You drink coffee? Are you even old enough? Well, no Eggnog for you anyway, the alchohol isn't good for little kids."

"Yes Lightning Lad, I am, no I am not a little kid and I hate Eggnog."

"You learn something new everyday huh?" Garth smiled.

"You look happier than a duck in a pond, what's up?" Superman asked the rest stared at him.

"What?"

"Ya'll can take the coy outta the country but you can't take the country outta the boy." Phantom Girl drawled in a country accent.

They laughed at this.

"It's nothing, Garth and Imra just kissed in the corridor." Brainy said casually like he was talking about the weather.

"What?"

"Seriously?"

"How did you know?"

Brainy tapped his head "Logic and Science."

"Logic and Science my foot, there's mistletoe hanging over Garth's door." Timber Wolf grunted in amusement.

"No wonder Imra wanted to go wake Garth up by herself." Tinya said mischievously. Her only reply was two blushes from said couple and laughter all around.

As far as Brainy knew, Mistletoe was a parasite that grew on trees, hardly anything to celebrate as it caused mass destruction and spread like wild fire, very hard to remove. Such similarities to the plant and his ancestor made him feel bad all over again.

"Something wrong Brainy?" Clark asked, he had been observing his green friend for a while and Brainy looked a little upset.

"Oh, nothing. Hey look! There's mistletoe over Tinya and Brin!" Brainy exclaimed, trying to divert the attention off him.

Brin blinked and looked up. Tinya grinned.

She flew up and kissed him on his furry cheek, he unconsciously smiled.

"Foul! I call foul! It's lip action, not cheek familiarity." Bouncing Boy called out.

Everyone stared at him.

"What? Did anyone watch: A Night to Remember?" He asked (A/N No such movie, don't bother to search.)

"No."

"Not me."

"A what?"

"Oh never mind, who's for opening gifts?"

"Oh me!"

"I do!"

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

All but three rushed to the tree.

Brin headed out to join them but was stopped by a kiss on his lips.

It was more of a brush than a kiss but it still left him incoherent and grinning like an idiot, much like Garth.

Tinya giggled at her audacity and went out with Brainy who was smirking like there was no tomorrow, they exchanged discrete high fives when the rest asked where Brin was.

And then, Brainy had that feeling again. Warmth filled him from head to toe and he felt himself smiling, he never felt this way on Colu.

"Ooh! Brainy, open mine first!" Garth said.

"I thought we were going to open all our presents in Clark's house." Brainy said suspiciously.

"I know, just open it!"

The rest looked at him curiously.

Brainy eyed the box warily and began opening it, it was a book.

He twitched when he read the front cover.

'A Dummy's Guide to being an Android' was splayed out boldly on the front cover.

"Run. Run fast." Brainy's cannon were already assembled.

"Running! Running!" Garth laugher rang across the tower even as he was running.

After a while Superman broke them up.

"C'mon it's time to visit my place." He said firmly.

"Alright."

"Thanks, I owe you."

Superman muttered something about playing with fire but Garth pretended not to hear.

They entered the time-bubble and set the time and place.

They arrived just outside Clark's house where his Ma and Pa were waiting.

"Clark!" Ma Kent walked out to hug him and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hi Ma, how's it goin' Pa?" He grinned.

"Great son, how are you? Still fighting those bad guys?" Pa Kent replied.

"Oh shush Pa, let Clark introduce his friends." Ma Kent said adoringly.

"Oh yeah." Clark said sheepishly.

"This is Tinya, Brin, Chuck, Luornu, Imra, Garth and Brainy."

"Nice to meet ya'll, lets go in. The roast is in the oven right now." Ma Kent ushered them in.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Imra asked politely.

"Such polite children! No thanks go along now." Ma Kent chuckled.

"I think your mother is nice." Brainy observed.

"Me too." The orange Triplicate said.

"And me." The purple one chirped.

"True, true." The white one clapped.

"Thanks, you guys." Clark said.

They had been chatting for a while when the earth shook.

"Earthquake?" Luornu asked when she had righted herself.

"No records have been taken on an earthquake today." Brainy shook his head, if it wasn't an earthquake then…

They ran outside and they couldn't believe what they saw.

Several ships were surrounding the house. Very big, very powerful flying ships from the future.

"What do you think they want?"

"Directions?"

"What business have you here?" Tinya yelled.

"I am the Head of Police. We have you surrounded, surrender the Coluan to us." The apparent leader shouted, totally ignoring the daughter of the United Nation's president.

"Coluan?"

"Me, they want me." Brainy hung his head; his people had caught up with him at last. These police must have tracked them down to this time and area.

Brainy had never kidded himself; he was a fugitive on Earth. An outsider. He was only protected on the basis he was under Legion protection or so he thought.

"No! You can't take Brainy." The legion stood in front of him protectively.

"We will not hesitate to take you down unless you forfeit the android. We advise that you do." He shouted.

"No!" Superman yelled, he tensed, ready to fight.

"Yes, I'm sorry but nobody will get hurt on my account. Not for me." Brainy whispered, he flew up over their heads and went to the ship.

He held his hands up for them to cuff, they did so and led him to the ship. He didn't spare a glance at his friends.

The other police started going back to their ships.

"We have to do something! Anything! I'm calling mom, she's got to fix this!" Tinya was close to tears now; she buried her head into Brin's chest. He awkwardly patted her back.

"They just took him, I can't believe it." Garth whispered, not Brainy, for even with his cannons and eccentricity and IQ, Garth still saw him as his kid brother. He hugged Imra who was sobbing, he couldn't cry, he needed to be strong.

"It happened so fast, why couldn't they wait? It was his first ever." Imra whispered angrily, she meant Christmas, she meant that why didn't they wait until when they were home, when proper protocol could be followed?

Superman was more in shock than anything, he glanced around without really seeing. Something caught his eye.

An officer was placing something on the bottom of the ship. Superman used his x-ray vision to see what it was.

Luornu looked up to see Clark grab something from the bottom of a ship and fly upward, something exploded in the sky.

The rest looked up.

He flew down super fast and crashed into an officer on purpose the other officers brought out their guns and aimed at him.

He ignored them "Validus! It's the Fatal Five." He yelled.

Some of the Officers shimmered revealing Tharok, Validus, Mano and Persuader.

The Legion got ready to fight, then.

Validus began throwing Police everywhere! The girls had to rush to prevent any injusries done to the men while the boys fought the members themselves.

In the heat of the battle, Bouncing Boy noticed a crutial fact.

"Where's the Empress?!"

"Brainy!" Timber wolf, who had just knocked Mano out shouted.

Brainy slammed into a wall; he had found the Empress soon after he went in. He had tried to warn the others but it was too late.

He couldn't fight very effectively, his eyes were shielded from the eye and the Empress was quicker than before.

"Aw, poor Coluan. I'm sure your people will give a good reward for your return. Brainiac." She drew out the last word, she reveled in the fact he was no different than she.

He got up and ran; his hands were encased in heavy cuffs that covered his hand up to his arm.

He escaped to a corner and got to work releasing himself, he sensed the Empress who was doing nothing to stop him.

"It would be more fun if you get free, don't worry, my minions will take good care of your friends, you? I will keep alive." She sighed.

Suddenly, there was a dent in the side of the ship. Superman punched his way in.

"Brainy!" He yelled.

"I'm sorry, he's with me." The Empress grinned.

And with that the Empress and Brainy was gone in a flash of green. Imra and Tinya stayed to help the other officers while Superman flew outside.

The Empress appeared nearby where her teammates could see that the mission was accomplished. Brainy's eyes were closed so she deemed him unconscious.

"Poor thing, and on Christmas too." She cooed as she fell.

Brainy's eyes flew open "Bah Humbug." He said savagely, twisted and grabbed her with his fingers sending his remaining energy to shock her. She screamed and was knocked out.

The last thing Brainy knew he was falling.

System on. calibration stabilizing. Energy increasing. Brainy opened his eyes to see his friends, Ma and Pa Kent crowding around him.

"You're okay!" Was the first thing Imra said when he woke up, she hugged him tightly.

Tinya and Luornu also hugged him tightly. While the boys grinned uncontrollably.

"Glad to see you've returned to the land of the living." Garth proclaimed.

"Ahem."

They turned to see the Head of Police standing behind them.

"You do realize that Brainy still needs to come with us." He said unemotionally.

"No!"

"You can't take him, not this time." Superman shook his head.

"We have the Fatal Five in custody, but be warned, the inevitable battle between the Coluans and you will exclude the people on Earth. It's on your head." He replied.

"We understand." Brin snarled, the Head took a step back.

"Be warned." He said and left.

"Everyone come in, the roast is getting cold and the soup is ready." Ma Kent's voice broke the tension.

"Heh, Super Mom." Bouncing Boy chortled. The rest laughed and went inside for the Christmas dinner.

After all the presents had been unwrapped and the last piece of pie was eaten, they got ready for bed. The guest room and Superman's room had been made ready for the Legionnaires because they were staying overnight.

"You kids are too tired to travel back to time, after fighting all those bad guys no way I'm letting you go without a good night's rest." Were her exact words.

Brainy stared at the sky, why would his friends do that?

He heard footsteps behind him, he saw Imra and Garth walking to him.

"Hey Brainy, what are you doing up so late?" Garth asked, one arm slung over Imra's shoulder.

"Why?" Was all Brainy managed, why would his friends do such a thing? Now the war between his people and the Legion was unavoidable, all because of him.

"Because we're family." Garth replied.

"And we care about you." Imra nodded.

Brainy felt the warmth again, he understood what it was now, and he had a name for it as well: Family.

"Thanks." He said.

"No prob." Garth smilled and mussed up his hair.

"Hey!" Brainy protested.

He was Brainiac Five, the prophesied Brainiac who would destroy the universe and cause mass destruction.

But he was also Brainy.

And he was loved.

END.

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Hope you enjoy.


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